Improvement in lasts for boots and shoes



' V .1. K. FEICK.

Lasts for Boots and Shoes.

No.154,326 Patented Au .25,1a74.,

whwsses. I r ihver zfoyf THE GRAPHIC COJHOYO-UTHJSl-H PAPK PLACE,N.Y.

UNITED STATES PATENT QEEIcE JOSEPH KOZER FEIOK, 0E BERLIN, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT m LASTS FOR Boo-rs AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 154,326, dated August 25, 1874; application filed March 25, 1874.

' fication It is found by experience that, unless felt shoes and'slippers are stretched during the process of manufacture, they will stretch in the wearing, so as to become almost worthless before they are half worn out.

The object of my invention is to stretch the felted shoes or slippers in the process of manufacture, so that they will not stretch much,

' if any more, when they come to be worn.

To efi'ect the stretching during the process .of manufacture, I make a wooden last, such as is shown in the drawing. of a peculiar construction-that is, after the last is formed I saw it into three pieces, A,B, and G,as.clearly indicated in the drawing.

The last is composed of the parts A, B, and G. The part 0 is cut from a point near the i center of the top of the last throughto the toe horizontally across in a linev nearly parallel with the instep portion. The part A is cut in a curved line from the top near the heel almost to the sole,and then for a short distance in a line at a right angle to the sole to hold the parts in position when the shoe is stretched on the last.

The shoes or slippers for which this last is intended stretch'from two to four inches in length, and about the same proportion in width-that is, a ladys shoe or slipper num her three will stretch about two inches, and a mans shoe or slipper will stretch about four inches. These shoes or slippers are seamless, being felted all in one piece. The shoe being felted is soaked in a hot solution or preparation, and, while hot, the heel piece A of 'the last is put in, and the piece B put in on the top of A, when the shoe is placed on a block, and the piece B is forced in with a lever until the notch D slips by the end of A, so that the two parts will be held in position by the contraction of the shoe. I then force the piece 0 into place with a lever, and leave the shoe to cool and dry on the last; and, when cooled and dried, the last may be easily taken out, by first withdrawing G, then B, and A, when the shoe will be stretched ready for the next process toward finishing.

It is a great advantage to divide the toe end of the last completely and entirely to the toe end horizontally, as it enables me to stretch the toe portion of the shoe in width and height with greater facility and more perfectly than I could otherwise do.

I claim- A last for stretching 'felt shoes, consisting of the parts A, B, and O, constructed as described, and operating as set forth.

J. K. FEIGK.

Witnesses J. V. MEREDITH, G. KUM E. 

